Measurement of the neutral current cross section and {F2} structure function for deep inelastic {e+p} scattering at HERA

The cross section and the proton structure function F₂ for neutral current deep inelastic e^+p scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 30 pb ^-1. The data were collected in 1996 and 1997 at a centre-of-mass energy of 300 GeV. They cover the kinematic range 2.7 < Q² < 30000 GeV ² and 6ot 10^-5 < x < 0.65. The variation of F₂ with x and Q² is well described by next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD as implemented in the DGLAP evolution equations.